Proposition 1 transit/roads-money vote: 2 West Seattle rallies

With ballots due one week from Tuesday, the campaigning will be intensifying this weekend, and we have word of two pro-Proposition 1 rallies in West Seattle in the next three days:

-Tomorrow (Saturday, April 12th), 1 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle: King County Executive Dow Constantine, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen are expected at Move King County Now‘s rally. All welcome, from those with questions about the ballot measure to those already planning to doorbell for it and in need of campaign literature and a list.

-Monday (April 14th), noon, South Seattle College (WSB sponsor): Councilmember Rasmussen and State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon are headlining what SSC says is a student-organized rally titled “Save Our Metro,” planned for the Clock Tower plaza (inside Brockey Center if the weather is bad).

We haven’t received word of any local anti-Prop 1 events so far; editor@westseattleblog.com is the address for any and all event announcements, on this subject or others. April 22nd is the deadline for ballots to be returned.

And however you’re voting, if you don’t want to put it in the mail and spend however much it costs for a stamp these days, the ballot-dropoff van is back next Saturday and Sunday, and Election Day Tuesday – follow the link at the end of the story above for our recent story with that info. – TR

Where’s the proof of what you are saying ScubaFrog? I am proud to be a liberal living in W.S. What’s wrong with Obama? He’s done more for the country than you’ll ever understand. He gave healthcare to those who never had it.

Obama forced people to buy private ins. That’s not healthcare. You guys had a supermajority for 134 days in 2009, and you couldn’t even give us Single Payer.
–
Obama re-signed and expanded the Patriot Act, expanded NSA surveillance, refused to close Gitmo, refused to end the war in Afghanistan, and is spending as much as GW did.
–
Both parties have done irreparable harm to this country. We’re now a police state, housing more prisoners than any other country on earth. But I doubt Fox News or MSNBC tell you that.
–
Prop 1 is just another useless spending initiative that’s inherently flawed – at the base level we’ve got a a systematically broken govt from the local level, to the national level. And until that changes, your tax-and-spend polices won’t work, regardless if the GOP or Democrats are in charge.

Proud “Yes” voter. We need to keep the buses we currently have on the roads, and with our ballooning population — thanks to our low unemployment — we’ll soon need more. I rode the RapidRide last week a little later than usual, and the aisles were close to three deep, so we had to skip the last three stops. If you are for more traffic and congestion, then vote no and you will deserve what you get, more and more unmitigated gridlock. Close to 90% of people who currently ride Metro have a car, and if we pull our support and Metro has to cut routes and buses, those 90% will begin to join you “Nay” voters on the road, in their cars. Please, don’t do that to yourself and everyone else; vote YES for buses and your neighbors who ride them. After all, it’s good for the environment, lowers stress, and is just an overall wonderful way to travel.

Already voted no strictly because this is another regressive tax. It is ridiculous that the owner of a brand new Mercedes will pay the same license fee as I do for a 200cc motorcycle. $100,000+ car? $60 tabs. $400 motorcycle? $60 tabs. Crazy!

I don’t understand the anti-government types with the ill-informed rants about waste, etc. Scubafrog’s comments above being exhibit A. Yes … government isn’t perfect. But the ignorant “all government is bad/corrupt/inept” morons add absolutely nothing to the process to improve it.

We need buses. They cost money. We need to subsidize ridership because we all benefit from this. It really isn’t that hard to understand.

I don’t necessarily use the roads you drive on … but I’ll pay for it. I may not need the fire department when your house is on fire … but I’ll pay for it gladly. I may not need food stamps … but I’ll pay for yours.

wscommuter’s calling anyone that doesn’t agree/vote for Prop 1 “stupid”, “ill-informed” and “morons”. This is the typical partisan mindframe found on the extremes of both sides I’m referring to. One can’t reason with that kind of mindset. Ever. Sadly that’s the norm in American politics today.

AJ, your comparison has merit but not for the reason you suggest. If everyone should pay their share, the way to do it is index the fee to the per axle weight of the vehicle being registered. In terms of damage to the road, it’s the only thing that matters.

In a democracy, money should be spent in the way MOST people need it to be spent. Transit has not done this in the past. Do not keep giving them more money to spend on lavish pet projects. Give them less money to force accountability, so they are forced to focus on real needs and to focus on working within a realistic budget. Vote NO if you want more. Sounds weird, but think about how you personally spend your own money when you have less of it….you spend it more wisely. The same is true at a larger scale. Don’t worry. Increased population over time will naturally bring in more revenue anyway. Vote NO